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If you want to learn how to make money on Instagram, you’ve come to the right place. You’ve probably always wondered to yourself, “how do people make money on Instagram?” The answer is simple but many influencers still think you have to have 10K followers in order to start making money. That’s a lie! It’s absolutely possible to make money on Instagram with less than 10,000 followers. Many brands are eager to work with microinfluencers that have less than 10K followers as long as their followers are authentic and engaged.
Absolutely! It’s actually pretty easy to monetize your Instagram account because it doesn’t require any start up costs. Unlike starting a blog, monetizing Instagram is absolutely free. If you want to learn how to start a blog on a budget, check out this post.
Related Post: How to Become a Social Media Influencer
Related Post: How to Make Money as a Social Media Influencer
This is a sneak peak into the book that I’m working on for microinfluencers and bloggers. If you want even more tips like this, make sure to sign up for my bloggers only email list. I send emails semi regularly (hey, I’m a mom of 3 that sometimes can’t find the time to send a weekly email). My emails have actionably items to help you make money in social media and blogging, even if you don’t have a huge following.
I have less than 10K Instagram followers, and have been making money on Instagram since before I hit the 5K mark. If you follow my tips, you’ll be making money on Instagram before you know it too!
1. Set Yourself up as an Instagram Influencer
Show yourself in your Instagram posts and be personable. It’s one of the best ways to get sponsored on Instagram. Brands want to work with influencers who have a lot of influence over their audience.
This is the first and most important step that many bloggers fail to follow.
There is a difference between a blogger and a social media influencer, yes it is possible to be both, but not all bloggers are social media influencers. In fact, a lot of bloggers don’t ever get on the social media train because they put all their efforts into content, Pinterest and SEO. While there is nothing wrong with this, it’s a lot of fun to get into social media influencing because it is easy work that pays pretty well.
So, how do you set yourself up as an influencer? Easy! Add it to your profile and start sharing things you like. Add the words “digital influencer” or “social media influencer” into your profile to add some legitimization.
Sharing bits and pieces from everyday life is easy for lifestyle bloggers who share a bit of everything, but it can even be done for super specific niche bloggers. Yes, I encourage you to “show yourself”, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to show pictures of yourself. Although that always helps- people love to see more about you because they are nosy!
If you don’t like to share pictures of yourself, it’s possible to “show yourself” though your captions and the quirky things you like. Most of all, be authentic, ask questions, and reply back to comments.
2. Take Insta-worthy pictures
This is just as important as my first tip. If you aren’t sharing high quality images, then brands will never want to work with you.
I put together an entire blog post about taking Insta-worthy pictures. Read all my tips here.
3. Sign up for Like to Know It
Like to Know It is a popular way to sell all sorts of items on your Instagram feed. You’ve probably seen many fashion bloggers using this, but all sorts of influencers use it for everything from baby items to home decor. Check out these hashtags to see a few examples: #liketoknowit #liketoknowitbaby #liketoknowithome
Commissions are as high as 30%!
The selection process is very secretive, so I can’t give you too many tips, but I do know that you are more likely to be selected as an influencer with Like to Know It if you have high quality images.
Go to RewardStyle.com to apply.
Here is an example of a Like to Know it post from my Instagram account:
A post shared by Hannah- Eat Drink & Save Money (@hmrinaldi) on
4. Set up Linktr.ee
Linktr.ee is my all time favorite Instagram tool. It’s a free way to send people to different web addresses from the link in your profile.
Instagram only lets you have one link in your profile so instead of adding the link to your blog, add the Linktr.ee link and you can send them to a variety of different sites. Here is how I have mine set up.
Head here to sign up for Linktr.ee.
5. Add your Amazon Influencer Link to Linktr.ee
Once you have your Linktr.ee link set up, add your Amazon Influencer Link. Don’t have an Amazon Influencer Link yet? Go do that, now!
Apply here to become an Amazon Influencer.
6. Add other Affiliate Links to Linkrt.ee
Don’t go too link happy, but link a few favorite affiliate links through Linktr.ee when you have them.
If you are new to affiliate marketing, consider taking an e-course to learn more. I took Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing and it completely changed my affiliate game. I now regularly make money through affiliate marketing. Read this post to see an example of a post with affiliate links that brings me income every single day!
7. Reach out to Companies Directly
Guess what? You can reach out to companies directly and ask to work with them!
I know it sounds daunting, but it’s really not. Brands are used to influencers reaching out to them. In fact, many websites now have a contact solely for social media influencers.
Head to SocialBlueBook.com to figure out your worth on Instagram. From there you can pitch a brand you like and tell them how much it costs to be featured on your feed.
Don’t feel overwhelmed doing this! You are doing them a favor by offering them a much lower price than they would get by taking out a print ad. They save money, and you make money. It’s a win-win!
8. Review Items on Your Blog and Share on Instagram
Practice sharing things you love by reviewing items on your blog and then sharing the review on Instagram. There are tons of word of mouth marketing websites that send people free products in exchange for review.
Get my list of word of mouth marketing websites here.
9. Sign up for Influencer Networks that include Instagram sponsorship
Some networks will only work with Instagrammers that have 10K followers. This annoys me to no end because I know of one network that only pays $50 per Instagram post once you get to 10K followers.
I’m here to tell you that is a complete sham. I personally have been paid $700 for a series of 3 Instagram posts and 4 tweets from another influencer network when I had less than 5K Instagram followers and 10K Twitter followers.
I have another Instagram post coming up with week that is paying $150. For one image. Easy money, right?
Here are the influencer networks I love that pay decently to influencers that have less than 10K followers:
The answer depends on how much you put into it.
The more often you post, the more money you’ll be able to make. Try to have ratio of 3:1 for authentic to sponsored content. Meaning for every sponsored post you have, make sure to post 3 authentic posts without sponsorship.
You can easily make anywhere from $25-175 for one sponsored picture, maybe even more if you have a good relationship with a brand!
Start implementing these tips to make money on Instagram and let me know how they work for you!
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